Cholecystokinin-8 treatment reduces acinar necrosis and edema of pigs with induced pancreatitis

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory process of the pancreas and a leading cause of hospitalization amongst gastrointestinal disorders. Previously, cholecystokinin (CCK) has been described to play a role in regeneration of pancreas. The aim of this study was to analyse the function of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) during induced pancreatitis in an animal model. Overall acute pancreatitis was induced in 38 pigs. After the induction of acute pancreatitis, half of the animals were treated with CCK-8. Intraoperative clinical data, postoperative blood parameters, 'Porcine Well-being' (PWB) and fitness score and post-mortal histopathological data were analysed. At baseline, physiologically parameters of the pigs of both groups were comparable. No differences were observed regarding the overall survival of animals (p=0.97). Postoperative PWB score were significantly enhanced in animals treated with CCK-8 as compared to the control group (p=0.029). Moreover, histopathological analysis of the pancreatic tissue revealed that acinar necrosis and edema were significant reduced in the CCK-8 group in comparison to the control group (p=0.016 and p=0.019). In conclusion, we found that CCK-8 treatment reduces acinar necrosis and edema of pancreatic tissue after induction of an acute pancreatitis in pigs.